Project 1:Translational studies in lung cancer To investigate miRNA influence on prognosis and prediction of effect of adjuvant chemotherapy in readically resected non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in the International Adjuvant Lung Cancer Trial (IALT)randomized study of adjuvant chemotherapy vs. follow up. To investigate associations of miRNAs and prognosis in lung adenocarcinoma vs. squamous cell carcinoma. To investigate if miR-21 expression is increased in EGFR mutant tumors. To investigate if miR-34a,b,c expression levels correlate with p53 status and p53 mutant tumors have reduced miR-34 expression. To investigate if let-7 has a stronger association with prognosis in wild type K-Ras tumors. Project 2:Translational studies in thymic malignancies To study the incidnece of thymomas compared to matched controls and also assess survival patterns as well as risks of autoimmune diseases and second malignancies using a comprehensive population-based study. Project 3:Clinical studies in thoracic malignancies To develop target agents that overcome resistance to EGFR TKI's, in particular, second-generation EGFR inhibitors, Met inhibitors, and HSP-90 inhibitors. Investigate novel agents in patients wiht advanced thymoma and thymic carcinoma. Study the tumor and surrogate markers of activity, to better identify patients who may benefit from treatment with targeted agents. The aim is to perform mutational analysis of SCLC specimens